I never met a bow builder old or new that didn't have some trick in the bow building field that he would pass on to others if it was use of the tools or the making of his own bows I would like to hear some of them. :campfire:
Most if not all are on my site. :) Jawge
http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/
Using the disk part of my belt/disk sander to radius my arrow shelves is one of my favourite tricks. I don't know how many other people do it that way.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75-pxxEli74
I wish I had some tricks to share, I try to stay away from power tools as much as I can when building a bow. I found early on that power tools will run a selfbow pretty quick. ;)
Patience!!!!!
One thing I've found that hleps me out when a scapper is too big and 60 grit is too slow, I use those replacement, snap off, box cutter blades as a scraper, cheap quick and leave behind a "polished surface".
Also lots of rough rat tail files of different diameters.
One trick that has worked fine for me is on fire hose take a 1inch pipe and cut a little wider then the hose and cut down the pipe about a 4th of the pipe opening, and put some gasket cement in the hose end and double the end and slide it in the pipe then put in the vice and squeeze it tight then use a large hammer and finish smashing it flat and that makes a nice seal.
I made these pads for my vise jaws. They work better than anything I have used before and were really easy to make. I copied the one leaning against the vise using wood and leather.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/ekrewson/bow%20making/newvisejaws.jpg)
Eric, you always come up with some cool,homemade gadget!
What about your tiller gizmo?
This is a great post. I have seen several nice jigs used by folks to cut risers and the arches in the riser blocks using a bandsaw and router. Kenny M has a link to his site that shows how to route a form from a template you make. Same thing can be done for quickly roughing out a riser from a billet.
A friend of mine made a bow oven out of a old no good upright freezer he took the motor and coil out and laid it on its back and added three lites and a therm. and it workes better then my plywood one and runs cheaper, didn't cost a fraction of what my wooden one did and out performes mine.
I don't know about the rest of you guys But I have picked up some helpfull hints so far. Thanks Guys Pipers Bowruff
My power tools are limited to a bench top single speed band saw and a bench mounted drill press. I found that trying to cut glass lam limbs to shape on the little high speed band saw would destroy a blade in several inches. So, I took a hack saw and bent both ends at a 45 degree handle and use that and a fine tooth blade to cut out the limb shapes. Recently I found a hack saw that allows the blade to be set at fixed angle of choice and will use that next time around. Meanwhile it has served well in my back pack as a bone saw.
Also, with only the drill press and a drum to sand with, I started using course files to take the limbs down to final dimension. I use them as though they were a sanding block running them up and down length wise along the limb edges.
Many of my methods fall under the category of tool abuse! :o
I use stretch wrap instead of using kitchen plastic to wrap my forms and then the glued up bows while on the forms. It stays put and doesn't get in the way. It can be purchase at home depot or lowes for about $7 per roll. You'll be surprised how many uses you will find for it.
Bigjim
Is that one of those Questions that "If I Told Ya, I Would HAVE to KILL Ya...." :rolleyes: would be Categorized Under?? :confused: :readit: :archer:
I glued pads of 10 ounce leather to the clamping surfaces of all my "C" clamps and the jaws on my vise. Works great. ;)
Shaher.602 Don't you have a trick or two pass on to fellow archers they have shared some with you.
Yeah, I just Might at that!! Mr Krewson sent me a Priceless Tiller Gizmo along with his knowledge from reading Posts he is Involved In! And Patience, Patience, Patience!! :readit: UNLESS You LOSE Your "Patience" and Chuck them across the Garage!! :knothead: :archer: My Memory is Failin' me Now........ It Does That More & More Everyday!! Good Thing I have a Library of "How To..." DVDs!!! Dean Torges is My Personal Hero!! Along with WingNut, YellarGnome.... :archer:
Well here is a tip you might use to remove epoxy from your hands take fine saw dust and dish soap and clean your hands
WD-40 works well on epoxy on hands before dry. Just don't use it near your bow supplies!LOL
Its not my idea and I don't remember where I found it but it works great for cutting fiberglass and does not ruin the blade.
I placed a 10" cut off blade, the kind found in a chop saw, in my table saw. The abrasive wheel easily cuts the glass and cost a fraction to replace. Much safer to work with too as the blade can be lowered or raised as needed.
When I'm blending horn tips, or just removing tool marks from them, a disposable "straight" razor blade (like what's in a box cutter or sliding paint scraper) is the bee knees for smoothing the surface or blending into the limb. It removes shavings you can read the sunday paper through. After that, use one of those multi sided fingernail buffer pads to finish shaping and polishing.
I've only built a couple of bows, so I'm still learning my "tricks". I doubt it's a new technique, but here goes. I have a quick adjust woodworkers vise on my bench. My tiller tree is on the wall behind the bench and when I need to mark a spot or use a tiller gizmo, I just bring the rope around the corner of my bench and then stuff the rope into the vise. A quick bump with my hip closes the vise, and then I just need to do a quarter turn to lock the rope down. Might replace it with a jam cleat at some point. The other thing I do which I was taught, is when you make an adjustment to your tiller, remove all of the rasp marks (I use a cabinet scraper) before moving on. That really slows me down and forces me to really look and analyze the area I'm working. With time and experience I'm sure I will be able to skip that or not get rid of every mark. I certainly agree with those that say slow down and be patient, but don't be too afraid to make a bit of kindling either. I love watching newbies work at something I know something about because nobody ever told them "you can't do" that or "that won't work". Amazing what you can learn from them.
Swamp
It is my basic complete set of the tool. Saw, a rasp, scraper and a sandpaper. Other machine tools - only axe replacement :) .
(http://bowmania.ru/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=2005.0;attach=7814;image)
one old trick is put your smooth on in the micowave for 30 seconds then mix it, it will be a lot easyer to work with and a lot thiner , Don't thin it with actone, thining it does effect the quality of the strenght.
AND.....While doing delicate work, ya got ta have your tongue hangin' out yer mouth jest right...........Personal Experience. :archer: :biglaugh:
Yer tongue has to hang out? I've been bitin' my lip!
i use a dremel tool with the tile cutting or grout removing bit, it is a great way to reach inside the shelf where it is tough to reach (also radius a shelf or put in your nocks), does file work, just faster...use a light touch though, Dano is right, power tools don't do anything you can't do by hand, they do screw it up faster though if you don't pay attention
I have a couple. For tillering wood bows, get a good pair of scissors that have a scrue in the middle that you can take apart. Purchas a cheap accusharp scissor sharpener and you have the best scraper ever for tillering wood bows. And it is easy to keep sharp.
How about this. Mount a belt sander upside down in a vice to create a table top belt sander. Or mount an electric drill in a vice with a drun sander bit. This works great for shaping risers.
"I glued pads of 10 ounce leather to the clamping surfaces of all my "C" clamps and the jaws on my vise. Works great"
i actually quit reading the post, ran out to my shop and doctored up my main 2 bow holding C clamps with this method, the second i read this. BRILLIANT suggestion. i've been using scraps of cardboard.
here's my usual technique: clamp, shave, unclamp, back on tiller tree, back to bench, scream at my 2 boys: "GOD DAMMIT WHERE DID YOU GUYS PUT MY LITTLE PIECES OF CARDBOARD THIS TIME!"
I've had a couple sets of these for years and just started building bows and these have come in handy.
http://www.mhcrafters.com/servlet/the-Vices-&-Clamps-cln-Soft-Jaw-Magnetic-Pads/Categories
Mine aren't the same brand but pretty close to the type.